Construction equipment and materials theft was big business in 2025 and early 2026, but it is copper — reaching record highs at $8 a pound — that is the prize thieves are literally ripping off.
And, it is not just construction sites, but service companies are being hit as well right across Canada.
In February, $250,000 in copper wire theft was reported to Fort St. John, B.C. RCMP after thieves stripped and stole it from a rural gas site, while on the other side of Canada, in September 2025, Nova Scotia RCMP investigated the theft of copper from a construction site in Lower Sackville where thieves removed copper tubing from heating, ventilation and air conditioning units. Estimated damage: $500,000.
J.P. Morgan Global Research sees copper prices reaching US$12,500 per metric tonne in the second quarter of 2026, ultimately averaging ~$12,075/mt for the full year, with a global deficit of approximately 330,000 metric tonnes, squeezing supply.
With copper wire heists occurring across Canada, companies are tagging their metal. In November 2025, Calgary police were able to nab two men after following a tracking device on copper wire taken from a construction site.
U.S. figures show 63 per cent of thefts involve tools, equipment or building materials, but just how rampant theft from construction sites are is unknown as there is no Canadian entity that collects statistics drilling down into the problems.
As such, the industry, which is expected to contribute roughly 7.5 per cent of Canada’s GDP, employs over 1.6 million people, and generates $222.11 billion in revenue, has become a virtual free-for-all for theft.
RCMP and urban police forces don’t collect or merge figures and most don’t break down theft beyond over or under $5,000. And not all thefts are reported.
Security firms post figures, but these are either dated (some going to 2005), from the U.S. or not verifiable.
A firm’s website quoted a 290 per cent per cent theft increase since 2024 at North Vancouver sites, but local RCMP Cpl. Mansoor Sahak said: “I am not sure where this site obtained their statistics, but I can confirm that we did not provide the numbers they are quoting.”
The Manitoba Home Builders’ Association has also warned of growing theft, but companies are mostly on their own.
Manitoba’s Greg Simmons, who owns Simmons Masonry, last year went public with the stream of thefts ranging from larger items valued at $15,000 to individuals grabbing tools and running from his worksite.
By implementing a training program or staff, he has reduced losses.
“When we went to the Winnipeg police, we were told to hire our own security,” he said, but that’s not always an option for companies.
In B.C., Jordan Bateman of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association said the cost of security now carries an extra PST budget charge starting in October.
The Calgary Police Service (CPS) is one urban police force collecting statistics and sounding the alarm as thefts rose from 280 incidents in 2017 to 308 in 2024 to 371 in 2025.
Sgt. Nick Wilsher said Calgary’s record number of new homes built in 2025 attracts more than buyers.
“The opportunity is increasing for theft to happen,” he said, drawing in “regulars” or new thieves.
Wilsher said CPS is working with local construction associations to target hard hit construction sites.
Some Manitoba municipalities are rallying around builders with private security. One is Manitoba’s third largest city Steinbach, where builders were close to losing their insurance coverage and told local council they were seeing “unreasonable levels of jobsite theft.”
A city pilot launched in the latter half of 2025 using private security patrols around jobsites at night is reducing theft at a cost of $360 per night.
“The best thing about this is that it shows a partnership between the City of Steinbach and local developers,” said Mayor Earl Funk.
Despite bright spots like Steinbach and CPS, equipment remains a popular 2025 theft item used for joyriding, committing crimes or resale.
Throughout the Maritimes and in the Greater Toronto Area, approximately six excavators were used to target ATMs, with one incident causing $500,000 in building damage.
In Ammon, N.B., a joyridden stolen excavator caused an estimated $300,000 in damages to properties and the excavator.
In early 2026, Central Alberta RCMP recovered semi-trailers, tractors and heavy machinery at a Central Alberta property with a value of $1.4 million and charged four men. In southern Alberta, in 2025, police recovered $500,000 worth of skidsteers, a loader, excavator and deck trailers.
In 2025, on Vancouver Island, a 2019 John Deere 35G mini excavator (with two buckets) was taken from SB Dunn Contracting Ltd in Campbell River, while West Shore RCMP seized from a Malahat property a John Deere excavator taken from a Langford construction site.
A Caterpillar 966 Wheel Loader was also taken from a Sidney site.
The picture of equipment thefts doesn’t change in other provinces. It’s merely joined by materials such as lumber, with pick-up truck boosted lumber loads from smaller sites or even truckloads.
In Abbotsford, police found stolen trucks with a load of lumber. The current scale again is unknown but in 2019, the Edmonton Police Service, through Project Timber, cracked a lumber theft ring alleged to have stolen $3.5 million in wood and charged 80 individuals.
